Augmented Reality

Time is of the essence when running a small business -- particularly
when each staff member [whether he or she is the founder or its sales
agent] is often required to wear many hats,
juggle multiple disciplines and multi-task on an ongoing-basis. Add
travel and out-of-the-office business engagements to the mix...

Google made an exciting announcement today: Project Tango. Although it's not directly related to robotics, the underlying technology could very well lead to some pretty amazing developments. I should back up a bit, though: basically, Tango is a smartphone that can map your surroundings. Literally.

Within the next five years we may have holographic telephone systems akin to the Dejarik game in Star Wars (you know... the one with the little monsters... "Let the Wookiee win"). I don't know about you, but I can't wait!

Today at Steam Developer Days, Valve reportedly unleashed a 'holodeck-level' virtual reality demo on attendees. The bad news is that this demo won't be made available to the general public. Instead, Valve will be providing the tech to Oculus, with whom the studio collaborate on future VR hardware.

At today's Consumer Electronics Show, Oculus unveiled a new prototype of its Rift virtual reality headset. The new device, dubbed "Crystal Cove," adds positional tracking and a new OLED display. What that basically means is that Crystal Cove blows the old Rift out of the water.

There's a new video game peripheral on the way, and it's all about style. The NEX Band is a modular wristband to which one can attach a number of different charms. These aren't just for show: different charms will provide different experiences when hooked up to a mobile device. Pretty cool, right?

Ranging anywhere from eight to sixteen feet in height, King Robota manufactures some amazing robots designed for corporate events and large entertainment venues. But... how much of the robot is a robot?

While Google hopes to launch Google Glass by Christmas,
there's a lot of speculation as to its acceptance in the business
world. Surely with an anticipated price tag of slightly under $1500, at
first glance (pun intended), one would think only larger brands would be
able to afford this innovative new device.

Disney Research has been hard at work on a very exciting new piece of technology. It's called Aireal, and it lets you 'feel' virtual objects. Chalk up one more step towards virtual reality, and one more into the realm of science fiction.

So we're one step closer to true virtual reality. A Kickstarter Page just went live for the ARAIG Gaming Suit - a piece of wearable hardware designed to provide real, visceral sensory feedback. It's about as awesome as it sounds.

In the games industry, Valve is widely known as an innovator - and one of the most beloved organizations to boot. One of their biggest focus of late is bio-feedback: control of digital devices through one's own body. To that end, they're toying with some pretty absurd concepts...including using sweat.

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